A Song for Gold Eyes
by hazelgrrrl
Summary: 42 years after the rebellion fails, a well-trained Career known as Henri Romulus feels as though he has what it takes to win the Games. He finds himself facing a very different battle than he expected.
1. Chapter 1

At eighteen, I am an ideal contender for the well-known Hunger Games. Years are counted by the Games. PM and AM: Pre Mockingjay and After Mockingjay. 75 years were in the PM days, and the year as of today is 46 AM. 46 years of the Hunger Games after the legend Katniss Everdeen failed to save the districts from death.

I live in District Two. My name is Henri Romulus. I have two siblings. The youngest is Hayden. He's twelve. This is the first reaping that he is eligible for being reaped. Hallie is my 15 year old sister. Hallie goes to the same training school that my parents sent me to at age six, but Hayden is disabled. He goes to a normal school. Hayden can still do the things of a normal child, but the slightest push, or shove, could cripple him for life.

This year is a special year. It is the last year the the Capitol will allow volunteers. Because of this, more parents are putting their children in the school to train them for the Games. If nothing else, for protection, in case their child is in fact reaped.

My mother goes by the name Athen. She is a head peacekeeper in District Five. My father, Crotia, misses her every day. He rises at dawn and returns at dusk on every new day to work in the forges. I go to my school for free because since I was young, I showed promise to bring a victory to District Two. Hallie also goes for free, but only because of my status. She might also bring a victory one day, but then again, so might anyone.

In school, I grow on teachers. I can joke for a moment's notice, and then return to a serious training mode then minute next. I do not have enemies because it is hard to dislike me, which is simply a fact accepted by everyone. My skin is pale, but my eyes are dark. A river runs through our poorer part of the District, a river that each person has their own name for. I call it the Phantoms' Song, for it remains silent on most days, unless death is washed on her banks.

I specialized in a few weapons in class. Mostly, I am known for making good split-second decisions. My favorite weapon to use would have to be the mace. I love the power that I can posses, when holding such a deadly weapon. I am skilled with a sword as well, and have spectacular aim, which grants me natural ability with knives and a bow.

What sets me apart from the others is my odd intelligence. I studied types of wild food, and poisons, and all kinds of environments. I studied things to make myself an even greater threat in the arena. I feel bad for the girl that must go into the arena with me, because everyone in my District knows that she must surely die.

On reaping day, I do not get to say farewell to my mother. I wake early to shake hands with my father before he goes to help other households. I begin to prepare a hearty breakfast for my siblings. It is a normal day for me, and I whistle a soft tune. This is goodbye for no one in my world. I wear a black suit and a white undershirt. A red rose is in my front pocket, reminding me of the river when it appears in the summer, when thousands of petals fall and float on the river's surface. On those days, the river is nothing but silent.

I dress Hallie in a red summer dress, despite the cold outside. Hayden does not bother to dress appropriately, but I allow it nonetheless. Hallie holds his hand as they walk behind my steps to the center of District Two. It is a longer walk than I would have liked, and we pass the Phantoms' Song on our way. It is not silent today, either, as if it knows something the world has dismissed. Perhaps a storm is approaching. Or, perhaps the souls that have passed know that soon, more will join them.


	2. Chapter 2

District Two treats this day as a celebration. This year, District Two and District Four are tied for having the most victors. District One has less than us. Soon, I will prove my power, and my district will be in the lead. By time we arrive, we are almost late. I made Hallie and Hayden stop with me by the Phantoms' Song to drop my rose into the water. Our hands as one lowered it, and watched it sail and swirl through the water until finally it was drowned.

The Hunger Games were quick to be put in place once the Capitol had control again. Quin Marshall is our president now and he is a grand president indeed. This year is the third year for Head Gamemaker Shelly Oliver. District Two has a very dark but happy escort, Kimmie Kinlaw. Black hair, blue eyes, and always a black dress, she never quite fit in with the other escorts, but she is strong willed, much like District Two's tributes.

I stand with not only district pride, but pride of someone belonging to a nation as great as Panem, as the video is played and the same information is told, much like every other year. I am eighteen, and therefore, in the front, but I work my way to the front of the front. I will volunteer. I will win. I will be victor.

First, as tradition requires, the girls will be called. I don't listen. It doesn't matter. Because no one will volunteer. Because the girl who is called will not live with me in the arena.

But the name _does _catch my attention.

"Hallie Romulus!" Kimmie calls.

Almost immediately, I hear it.

"I volunteer."

It was spoken in a voice I had never heard before. I turn and see. It was the girl. The girl that I swore wasn't even allowed to participate in the Games.

The girl who is in jail for murder.

Well, she was in jail.

Now she has just saved my own life. If my sister was in the arena, I would have had to make sure she got home. I know I can win. But this girl is sly, and if she goes into the arena, I will be the only one who knows how she plans to kill us all off as we sleep.

In school, Tara Collete also studied. She, however, only learned one hit kills. Ways to fight without being seen, heard, caught…it was a wonder we caught her at all.

And now I was entering the arena with her.

I almost missed my cue to volunteer myself. The boy who was reaped—some child—was already walking to the stage. I pulled him back and said my words, taking my place beside her on stage. In the arena, I would not take joy in killing the other children. I would not be guilty, but I would not be happy.

I will be proud of Tara's death, though.

Her death will make us all proud, because Tara murdered our mayor.

As I stand on the stage next to Tara and Kimmie, I swear I can hear the songs from the phantoms themselves pushing through my ears, despite originating on the other side of the district.

Yes, sing your song. Soon death will come.


	3. Chapter 3

Kimmie does not let us have desert on the train. Tara does not come to dinner on the train. I do not say grace on the train. Our mentor does not stop talking on the train. Kimmie does not speak on the train. Tara is gone.

I excuse myself and spend the rest of the ride in my room. Our mentor is named Sam, the son of our old mayor. The one Tara murdered. Sam knows me, and I know Sam, and I think he is glad that I am going into the arena with Tara. I am welcomed into the Capitol like a god. In my room on the second floor, the first thing I do is watch the other reapings. District One has two volunteers, as usual. I store their names away. Glow Dugas is the girl. Shine Conrad is the boy. As I watch, I mentally make a list of the has bright green eyes and short, curly brown hair. She's cute, but not memorable. I recognize Shine as a model from the Capitol with shaggy light brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. Shine is tall, and seems taller next to Glow's short and small figure.

District Three has a bright, blue eyed thirteen year old blonde girl named Sunny Landry. She looks secretive, and I know she's playing the innocent card so she isn't targeted. But I can tell she's hiding something. Evan Berg is the boy, and he, at seventeen, looks more afraid than the small girl beside him. His hair is already turning gray. He would be killed in the bloodbath.

Cypress Jones is the final girl Career. She has straight red hair, and eyes filled with gold fire. Kyy Renolds is her district partner, a tan skinned boy that is younger than the rest of us eighteen year old Careers, at the age of sixteen. His hair is short and spiked, with random colors added to his natural platinum blonde hair.

District Five has an obvious couple. Neither will last long, though they are cute together. Orchid and Lukas were both in tears on the stage, both with black eyes filled with sorrow and black hair weaved in curls, both fifteen. District Six has a boy who stood out to me personally, named Leonidas Oake, another eighteen year old. Becca Johnson has an unusually large nose that comes with an unusually large chest for a thirteen year old. Emma Berit and Liam Bennet look like they have a story to tell. They're both twelve, and seem to be friends. Emma has blonde curls that look to belong on a doll, and Liam has dark brown bangs that cover his eyes.

Clarissa Porter is from District Eight, and I would recognize that face anywhere. She used to live and train in District Two, before her family moved away. It makes sense that she volunteered, since she moved only a year ago after her brother died in the Games. She comes with Aaron Redwood, who is fourteen, and very fair. In District Nine, there is Sammie Nelson and Gregory Wilson. The former is fifteen and the latter is seventeen. Gregory is the son of a famous doctor in the Capitol, and I don't doubt that he is as experienced in the medical field. Sammie has flaming pink hair, most likely dyed, which means she comes from a very wealthy family that will be able to sponsor her anything she needs.

A twelve year old with straight dirty blonde hair going to her waist named Madison Jackson is from District Ten. She comes with Daniel Smith, a fifteen year old boy with glasses and dark brown hair. Lily Ramsey, from District Eleven, is the sweetest looking girl that you've ever seen. But I can identify something in her eyes. Although she is twelve, she'd deadly. Will Rogers, though looking promising as an eighteen year old, most likely cannot do anything. Inside his eyes, he is as helpless as Lily perceives to be. Phoenix and Pine Myers, thirteen and fourteen respectively, are siblings from District Twelve. The boy, Pine, volunteered. Most likely, he did it to try to bring his sister home, which is very brave. I whistle softly to myself that night, when it is time to sleep, knowing soon I will see Hallie and Hayden again.


	4. Chapter 4

When I am standing in my chariot, I feel powerful. My stylist, Rosemary, has been to District Two. She has seen our forges, and our Peacekeeper academies. She has seen the Nut, and the private school that I went to for two thirds of my life. Our chariot is designed to look like a smaller version of the Nut, with Tara and I standing on top. We wear our school uniforms in a sloppy and slutty manor. Tara is in a silver miniskirt, showing off her long, pale graceful legs. She has the white undershirt we must wear buttoned half way, and in a size much too big. Her blue, silver, and black stripped tie was not tied as it should be, and hangs loosely around her neck. I wear navy blue slacks and a shining silver belt made out to look like the weapons my father makes. My chest reminds me of the Phantoms' Songs, because it has no clothing. I also have a loose tie hanging from my neck in the same style as Tara's, to show that we are both Careers, and have trained for this our whole lives. Our skin, wherever it may be showing, has been wiped with a shining sliver powder. It is not visible unless in light, but makes us appear as angels. Our horses are white Lipizzan mares.

The District One, Glow and Shine, tributes have been stripped of all clothing, and all hair. They, in all their glory, stand proud by leading all of the chariots. The District Three tributes wear a suit with lights running through it in veins, appearing as if the true veins of the children are lit up with mercury. District Five has explosions lighting around the tributes—who remain untouched, signifying the power plant explosion that happened there just last month. The District Ten tributes left their chariot deserted, and rode in riding their brown horses. They both had boots and a hat, neither with any more clothing.

I do notice Phoenix and Pine—the young siblings from District Twelve. They sit on a couch, holding each other and a picture book, in typical poor clothing, as their chariot burns with coal around them. They hold each other, as siblings would. Together until the end, it seems to say. Their chariot is designed to look like a house.

After the chariot rides, The Careers get into the same elevator. I watch Glow nudge Shine with her elbow, eying the siblings with a hungry eye as their stylists rub fake coal dust off of their tiny bodies. Up close, I know I was right. Glow is indeed very small, and Shine is very tall. The green in her eyes stands out in a seductive manner, but that is nothing compared to the District Four girl, Cypress, and her natural beauty. The gold in her eyes lights back on fire when she looks at me, as they did when she looked into the cameras at the reaping. Kyy, her district partner, tries to make himself look stronger in front of us from other districts, as if to make up for being a sixteen year old Career.

"Henri Romulus," I hear a voice say as a final body enters our elevator. I scan the face that has joined us, but it is Tara who responds.

"Clarissa," she says with a sneer. Clarissa moves herself between Tara and I, for which I am grateful. The other Careers raise eyebrows here and there, wondering who this new companion is. Finally, it is Glow who breaks the ice as the elevator moves up.

"Whats up with the hair, Sly?" Glow asks the young District Four boy.

"It's Kyy," He says in response.

"Right, just like he's Hungry," she says, pointing a finger in my direction. I can't help it. I laugh, just because I'm glad to have someone like Glow here. A girl who doesn't take this seriously. It's a game to her, and therefore, a stress-free win for me. "...and that's Whine...and that's Miss Priss...and that's Care-a-not," Glow continues, pointing to Shine, and Cypress, and Tara. This gets a few snickers from Clarissa, but that's silenced.

"Don't think I forgot about you, Clarissa Porter. Your name is awful enough in itself to need a nickname," she says with a bit of attitude. I shrug in the way that I always do. Even people like Glow tend to like me. The elevator reaches the first floor and I take Clarissa's arm and drag her out of the elevator with me. It shuts behind us, so no one else comes out.

It's Shine who notices us first. He gives a nudge to Glow and points to us. Glow's eyes burn with fury, and I try to tame the fires, like I always do. I put my arm around Clarissa.

"No worries! She's a Career," I guarantee. Glow drops whatever she was about to say. "Look, I know this might be hard to comprehend, but Clarissa trained with me. She moved to District Eight last year due to some family stuff."

"Why are you telling us this?"

"Because Tara is who you have to worry about. She doesn't belong here. She wasn't supposed to be here. And if you let her in, I know she will come after you first."


	5. Chapter 5

"What do you mean?" Shine asked.

"Remember how our mayor was murdered a few years ago?" I ask, and get nods in response. "That was Tara. She's killed before and when she trained, she learned nothing but how to go unnoticed. How to not be heard. Because of what she studied, that's how the peacekeepers caught her. After they questioned her, it all made sense. Clarissa should have her District Two spot, and it was illegal for Tara to even volunteer," I say. Glow is smiling now.

"I like you. But tell me. Why was it that no one else but her volunteered? What is so special about you...that not only everyone let you take the male spot, but not one else took the female spot? I've never seen it happen. I mean, I had to punch some bitch so that I could have my spot. I knocked her out cold on the concrete so I could take my place on the stage," Glow says. I remember seeing that. I drop my arm from around Clarissa's shoulders.

"Just trust me," I say, as if she'd be doing me a favor for trusting me. Finally, she smiles and takes my hand in a shake. "No Tara?" I ask and she nods.

"No Tara," Glow agrees, and I smile in response. I back up back into the elevator, knowing now I have another place to visit. Instead of getting off on the second floor, I go to the fourth floor while Clarissa goes to the eighth floor. It's the girl I see first, her gold on fire and tears streaming down her face. She flings herself into me, without realizing who I am or what I'm doing. I hold her while she cries, looking over her shoulder at the shadow that has appeared in the doorway. Tara has already come. Carefully, I lean down and whisper in her ear.

"It's Henri. I've talked to District One. Tara is out, Clarissa is in. Tara cannot be trusted under any circumstance, do you hear me? She's killed before and she's sneaky. Are you in? Clarissa used to live and train in District Two. Her family moved because of Tara killing our mayor. You remember it. I know you do. If you're okay with this change, do something unexpected," I tell her. Cypress leans back, her eyes bright, and stands on her tip toes to kiss me. I let her kiss me, and even kiss back, but only because she will be more hesitant to kill me in the arena now. Tara walks past me and slips into the elevator.

"Okay. I'll tell Kyy. Do you want to go get the others? I think it's best we all sleep on the same floor for now. So Tara doesn't hurt you or Clarissa. Or any of us tributes," she says, looking down at my chest as if she's just noticed how bare it is. I laugh and nod. "I'll be right back," I inform her and get into my own elevator, going first to the eighth floor, and then to the first.

Ten minutes later, all six Careers are on couches and the floor of Cypress's room on the fourth floor. I took the bed, and so did Cypress and Glow. I pretend not to notice as Cypress wraps her arms around my waist, and Glow wraps her arms around my arm. Somehow, I sleep, and sleep well, which I find surprising. I wake up relaxed, and ready to practice the techniques I've already learned.

I get to the training room knowing Shine and Glow are skipping today. Clarissa is throwing knives as perfectly as she did two years ago. Kyy is spending time with a crossbow, and Orchid is making out with Lukas on top of one of the nets meant for climbing. Cypress is flying through the pool of water, showing off the fact that she can swim—well. Gregory is in the first aid station, trying to hide the fact that he knows what he's doing. Sammie is using a knife to file her nails. Pine is trying to lift a sword, and Daniel is fidgeting over the electronics. Sunny didn't show, and neither did Phoenix. Evan is taking care in the edible foods area. I go to the food area too, too see which kind of arena I will have, only to be disappointed by a little bit of knowledge on everything—knowledge I already know.

Instead, I find myself at the axes. No other tributes are here, but I feel as if it might be important. So I spend the first day of training with the axes. On my second day, I review what I learned with the axes, but go to an area I've never seen on television before—a station for smells. I spend the rest of my second day and all of my third day learning how to identify anything my how it smells. The instructor, happy that a Career spent time there, also showed me how to test foods on my skin to see if it's dangerous. Satisfied with training, and certain that I picked up new skills, I wait for my meeting with the Gamemakers.


	6. Chapter 6

Right away, I recognize Shelly Oliver. It's hard not to. I shoot a grin in their direction.

"I'm Henri," I say. I'm from District Two, so I have their full attention. I'm a Career, and therefore confident. I am not only a Career, but the winning Career. I go first to the maces, then to the axes, then to the swords, then to the knives, and then to the bows. In case Shine was hiding something, I also go to the electronics. This skill is one I had even hid from my school. It is a skill my father taught me, from working in the forges. First, I put on heat resistant glove and start shaping metal into a shell over the heat source that I prepare with the fire making supplies. It's my size, and I show the Gamemakers that this can be body armor. But then I take it off. I'm not done yet. I get to work with the electronics, slowly adding things to the armor. Finally, it's done. I press a button on a remote control that I've made and know that Sunny must be waiting an awful long time for her turn. The robot I have created comes to life. I programmed him to attack me—and only me—and he responds beautifully. I spar in hand-to-hand combat with him for a little while before, after about twenty minutes, hitting his weak spot, which made him come to a spot. He is almost indestructible, except for his Achilles heel. He falls to the ground, practically dead, and I turn to the Gamemakers. I have impressed every single one, which is rare. Most of the time, there is one Gamemaker who pays no attention. Rumor has it, that only twelve Gamemakers matter, and if they vote yes, you get a point. Those votes make your tribute score. If they all look impressed, perhaps I will make higher than a ten, which is usually the highest score.

Our new group of Careers watch for our scores together. I hum the tune I sang for my siblings, and think of the rose in the water. So much hope. So much promise. And in the end, it died in the currents. Just like so many of the kids I'm going into the arena with.

Shine is first. None of us are worried, after all, we are Careers. I got the highest score, and therefore, I have been put in charge.

Shine Conrad – 10

Glow Dugas – 9

Henri Romulus – 12

Tara Collete – 11

Evan Berg – 5

Sunny Landry – 9

Kyy Renolds – 8

Cypress Jones – 10

Lukas Ronald - 6

Orchid Dempson – 2

Leonidas Oake – 7

Becca Johnson – 4

Liam Bennet – 5

Emma Berit – 3

Aaron Redwood – 4

Clarissa Porter – 10

Gregory Wilson – 4

Sammie Nelson – 2

Daniel Smith – 5

Madison Jackson – 1

Will Rogers – 6

Lily Ramsey – 8

Pine Myers – 3

Phoenix Myers – 3

Hallie and Hayden will be proud.


	7. Chapter 7

"Hello to you, too, Poppy!" I say. Poppy replaced Caesar years back as the interviewer. I'm wearing a silver and black tux and a navy tie. My brown hair is spiked, and I'm meant to look like I don't care, despite the fact that I'm wearing formal clothes.

"So, Henri, how about that! A twelve? We haven't seen that since the rebels!" she says, and I grin.

"I think I have come into the games quite prepared. District Two has treated me very well," I say, gesturing to what I wear—once again referencing the fact that I went to school for these games.

"You remind me of your sister. You might not remember her, The Capitol met her about twenty years ago!" Poppy says. I open my mouth and close it. My sister? I don't have an older sister.

"I'm sorry, who?" I find myself asking. This wasn't how my interview was supposed to go. Poppy blinked, shocked.

"Why, Athen Romulus." I laugh good naturedly.

"Poppy, that's my mother," I say.

"Oh. That must be right. She was a wonderful victor. How is she doing?"

"My mom was a tribute?"

"Why yes! As was your father. He didn't win, however. I remember the President had to take care of her baby boy while she went into the arena. She gave birth on day two of training, I believe. The she brought you back to District Two. Darling girl she was. Last time I heard she was a peacekeeper in District Eight!"

"District Five," I say breathlessly.

"Yes, yes, that was it. How's home life now?"

"I have two siblings. Hallie and Hayden. You might see one of them one day," I say, still distracted. When I get home, I must find out why I was lied to. I finish my interview and take my place on stage while I wait for all of the interviews to be over.


	8. Chapter 8

For tribute info, follow this link: spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AnZIcVnyk9c6dEtGV0NVUjcxQXd SSzBVcFNacXgxYXc#gid=0

Finally, it is the day to go into the arena. I'm psyched. I wonder if the river knows that today, more souls will join her. I bet she's wild. She always is when it's time to go into the Hunger Games season. I wonder what the arena will look like, but soon I will find out. We get into the hovercrafts that will take us to the arena, and I find that in my hovercraft, it is all the boys. Shine is across from me and as they put my tracker in, I give him a nod of respect. Pine is next to Shine, and he look absolutely terrified.

I recognize Leonidas, who I've found prefers to be called Leon, which is a bit less menacing, two seats to my right. It's silent, so I try to do the right thing and break the ice. Instead of just humming the tune, I outright sing the song.

[I do not own these lyrics]

_You're not alone  
Together we stand  
I'll be by your side, you know I'll take your hand  
When it gets cold  
And it feels like the end  
There's no place to go  
You know I won't give in  
No I won't give in _

_So far away  
I wish you were here  
Before it's too late, this could all disappear  
Before the doors close  
And it comes to an end  
With you by my side I will fight and defend  
I'll fight and defend._

I know I'm not the only one who knows these words, so I smile as it is Lukas who joins in.

_Keep holding on  
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through  
Just stay strong  
'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you  
There's nothing you could say  
Nothing you could do  
There's no other way when it comes to the truth  
So keep holding on  
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through _

By the end of the song, even Shine and Kyy join in. For some of these children, it will be their final moment of happiness.


	9. Chapter 9

I eat as much as I can before my stylist dresses me. The Capitol's food is just so delicious. Then, finally, after all of my waiting, I get to enter the tube. Our tribute uniform looks like something a company in the Capitol would have to wear every day. I have a tie, and it's really very similar to my school uniform, except in a more adult and professional manner. I like it, because I have been trained to fight in this more than anything.

When I think it's time for my tube to rise, it instead goes down. It goes down into—big surprise here—an office building. I seem to be on the top floor, and if I look out the window next to me, it appears to be about seven stories tall. There are cubicles, and I can't see another tribute in sight. I have risen in one of the cubicles, and I have a feeling the Cornucopia is somewhere in here. Headphones are next to my feet, and when the horn goes off, I pick them up and start running through the maze of this building. I find a backpack as I run and sling it over my shoulder. Then I slow down. I bet this floor is the Cornucopia. I have a feeling that in one of these cubicles, I will be able to find a fantastic weapon. So instead of looking for a traditional Cornucopia, I look for a cubicle in about the middle of the room. I peer my head inside each room until finally I see an office space that hadn't been stripped clean. I grab a pack of sharpies with twelve different colors and throw it into my backpack. Then I notice Pine, cowering under the desk. I have headphones and sharpies. I don't have a weapon.

Then I see the sharpened pencils lined up nicely on the desk. I grab them all, and before I think twice, bend down to Pine's level. His eyes are clenched shut, and I stab the pencil through his neck. I pull his body out when it's cold and see that he also found a backpack on his way here. I take its contents and put them in mine before leaving. Luckily, I don't pass another tribute, but I hear screams in the direction I have come from. I know I was lucky to find the Cornucopia before the others.

I maneuver my way to the stairs. I see an emergency fire box next to it, and break the glass with my fist, taking the ax. Immediately, the sprinklers come on, and I rush into the stairwell. I find it strange that there weren't more tributes up there. In the stairwell, I see that there are six floors. I was on the top floor. I start racing down, and a flustered girl runs into me an about the third floor. Before she even recognizes me, my ax is pummeling into her side, and I know she'll be dead. She had a bottle of prescription pills, and I pocket those. I look at her face and see that it was Orchid, the lover girl. When I get to the ground floor, I hear more fights, and I realize what the Gamemakers did—twelve tributes on the top and ground floor, most likely separated by sex, but perhaps not. Suddenly I hear awful, ear piercing music blasting through the stairwell. It takes me a minute to understand that it is an alarm. I put the headphones over my ears, and suddenly, I hear nothing. On the ground floor itself, I find a deserted cubical and look through my backpack. I have a few pairs of scissors, and one stapler remover. I have one can that is supposed to remove dust, but with one smell, I recognize it as a hydrocarbon. I have a stack of paper, and some glue, and when I smell the sharpies, I realize that some contain poisons, and others contain things to heal myself. I have a DVD case of the 27th Hunger Games, and when I open it, I find two sharpened DVDs. Finally, I have a small bottle of white out. I repackage everything and grip my ax, this time looking for people to kill. I take off the headphones, glad that the alarm was only in the stairwell, and those go in my backpack as well. I hear a scream and rush in that direction.

Sunny stands over a girl, Becca. Becca's eyes are hollow and I start towards Sunny with my ax, injuring her shoulder, before she expertly throws a pencil towards my eye. I duck, and in that time, she scampers off. The pencil wedged itself in my ear. I ease it out and break it. Becca's body didn't have any weapons, and I was right from the beginning: Sunny is dangerous. I hear a shuffle behind me and turn to see a face I'd recognize anywhere. Tara Collete. She puts her hands up, but I know better. I raise and keep a firm grip on my weapon. She pouts at me.

"Henri, you know I won't hurt you."

I grip my ax with one hand, while reaching into my back pocket with the other. I stored a poisoned sharpie on the left, and a healing one on the right. I grip the poisoned sharpie—a bright pink—and uncap it, bringing it forward. Tara laughs, but while uncapped, all I have to do is slice her with my ax, and pour the contents of the secret vile inside the sharpie into her wound, and she'll be a goner. I think.

She steps forward and tries to put a hand on my shoulder. I don't let her, instead, dropping my ax. In one fluid motion, I take the envelope opener out of my pocket and use it to scratch her face. I thrust the sharpie forward, its contents spilling over her face—in her eyes, in her mouth, and in her injury. I throw the sharpie down, pick up my ax, and race around her body as it falls to the ground. My guard is down, and I run straight into Glow. There's a pencil in her eye, and I know she had an encounter with Sunny as well.

"Is she dead?" I ask, but Glow shakes her head. I pull out the green sharpie and hand it to her.

"Here, use this. It should heal you," I say, and she takes it gratefully. I ease the pencil out of her eye as she yelps in pain, and then she pours the contents of the sharpie into her eye.

As she pours, I realize my mistake. The green was poisonous. The pink was not.

I healed Tara and poisoned my ally.

Much too late, Glow's body falls to the floor, dead, and I escape before I'm caught guilty.


	10. Chapter 10

Since this arena is different, the only ally I can find is Kyy. Eleven cannons had gone off, and I know most of the lives were taken by a Career's hand. We find a place next to the stairwell on the second floor that is in charge of the music on all floors and stairwell. First we cut off the alarm in the single stairwell, then we play music throughout the entire arena. We put it on the song we sang in the hovercraft. On repeat, so that people stay happy until their brutal death. Then, at last, it is time for the list of the dead. Kyy is shocked by Glow's death, and I pretend to be shocked as well. Then comes Evan—I was right. Tara isn't dead. Lukas and Orchid are both dead. Kyy took credit for Orchid. Becca and Aaron are both dead. The two District Nine tributes are dead. Madison, the twelve year old, and Will, were also on the list. Last was Pine, and then the Capitol's anthem cut off.

"Tara is alive, so we aren't safe to sleep." I say mindlessly. I'm not tired, but he looks exhausted.

"How does she do it?"

"She'll poison you while you sleep. That's how she works. That's why she wanted in the Career pack," I say. That wakes Kyy up.

"She has to sleep too, right?" he asks. I grin.

"If she plays dirty, maybe we should, too," I say, holding up my bottle or prescription pills. Kyy laughs.

"I like the way you think," he says, and we leave the music room abandoned. We go into the stairs and head up to the fifth floor. The two twelve-year-old kids from District Seven are asleep in the arms of the other. I glance at Kyy and uncap the bottle. Kyy starts to stop me and I whisper back, hushed.

"If you were them, wouldn't you want to go this way, painlessly, while you slept? It's better than the death Sunny will give them," I say, and he nods. I use all of the prescriptions on the children, and a minute later, their cannons go off. It wasn't the only cannon we heard, however. After Emma and Liam's cannons, there was a third—and a fourth. We see a shadow at the end of the way, and I lead as we creep down the hall. I have my ax in hand, surprised at how quickly these Games are going.

I peer around the corner and get a pencil to the shoulder.

I ignore the pain and swing my ax for Sunny's face—I know it's her—and am quite satisfied at the crunch I hear.

And even more so when I rip the pencil out as her cannon fires.

But then I hear a grunt behind me, and see Kyy falling forward. I see eyes that I would recognize anywhere, and music that I have only heard once before, and am only just now remembering.

Kyy's cannon fires, and the music I had put on fades into a haunting melody.

"Cypress!" I hiss. She turns and swoons, draping her arms over me.

"Do you hear it?" she asks. Slowly, I nod.

The haunting music pulses through the arena, Cypress moving with the beat, leaning against the wall, her eyes glazed over—the gold again on fire.

"_I tell you who to kill_," a voice says. It is not Cypress, it is not me, it is in my head.

Where have I heard these tunes before?

Ah yes...my dreams. This voice has come to me before, as I sleep, and it is back now, though I am awake.

I resist the voice and run.


	11. Chapter 11

I do not remember sleeping, but I wake up with friends. I do not remember last night, but I see Shine and Clarissa, and know that I am safe.

It is night time, but I know time has passed.

I hear the anthem and move anxiously to see those who have joined the river to sing her songs.

Tara, Leonidas, Liam, Emma, and Phoenix are all dead.

After that is announced, the Gamemakers say that there will be a feast for the final six tributes on the third floor. This has to be one of the fastest Games in history—it's day three and already 75% of the tributes are dead.

"Cypress killed Kyy," I say to my allies. They don't look surprised.

"We know," they say.

"I killed Glow. I didn't mean to but-"

"We know."

So we walk in silence to the stairs. Clarissa walks behind us, and I hear a grunt, and then a thud. I turn my head and see, as a cannon fires, that Shine is now dead.

"I killed Shine," she says.

"I know," I reply, and take her hand.


	12. Chapter 12

Follow this link: spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AnZIcVnyk9c6dGpDOU1zR0xYUlp fQkc0NFZzV3ZHUFE#gid=0

On the third floor, I find Cypress, her eyes glinting. The feast is in the break room, and there are all kinds of goodies for fighting. There also is something for each of us. I tell Clarissa to hold Cypress off as I go to get the thing the Gamemakers left for me...

The robot I built for them. I get to work right away, reprogramming his chip to attack tributes other than Clarissa and I. It doesn't take long, and soon the robot—I name him Alan on the spot—is attacking Lily, who was trying to sneak into the feast. Her cannon fires in seconds—along with another, as I see Cypress throw a pot of burning coffee onto Clarissa. I feel a foot on my back and fall forward, scraping my chest badly with my own ax. I spin around, my ax now in front of me for protection, as the District Ten boy looks down on me. I throw the ax, and it sticks to his head—another cannon.

Alan stands by me, bloodied from the death of Lily, as Cypress stands on the table in the center of the room, controlling the haunting music once again. I use a healing sharpie—this one red—to fix myself up.

The music that Cypress plays turns my freshly made robot against me, but I know the weak spot, and it take only seconds for me to turn him off.

Now, it is truly the final two. Cypress is singing, and I resist it.

Momentarily, the gold leaves her eyes, and her singing falters, as two sponsor gifts float down. I find a mace, and Cypress finds a trident—most likely the weapon she works best with.

But the mace is my weapon.

I resist the words of her song and call upon my own.

"In sleep he sang to me, in dreams he came,  
that voice which calls to me,  
and speaks my name," Cypress sings.

"I call upon the phantoms who are there and each of their songs!" I say. It becomes harder to resist Cypress's music.

"Shine and Glow, Clarissa and Kyy, help me now, help me here, give me your strength!" I plead.

"The other lost tributes, from previous games, lend me your grasp on the world

"You stir in my home, but please now, stir in me!"

I resist the music as if a force is literally ripping from me. I heave the mace high above my head and it pummels down onto Cypress. I repeat my actions again and again, long after her cannon fires, but the voice does not go away. The hovercraft appears to take me away, but I'm scratching at my ears. If the music was not from Cypress, then where is it?

My fingers come back bloody.

"Leave now—all of you! Be at rest, please," I plead quietly. The river is singing, but the voice is silent. The phantoms only sing to those lucky enough to hear, but if this is luck, then luck bides death.

And as quickly as is was here, it has left.


	13. Chapter 13

When I am home, I smile as I should, but the memory of the voice has not left me this time. It is at bay and I have control.

As soon as I can, I go to the river. I hear the music, faint this time, and different. It calls to me, but I do not give in. Instead I respect it, and respect it's victims. The river is, after all, calm today.

I hope the phantoms are, now, at rest.

I hope their song is all that remains.

I do not know why the music called out to Cypress the way it did, but perhaps this river flows throughout all of Panem, and is strong in District Four. I met the music, and I fought it.

And I won. I won a different battle than I had thought I would be facing, and I lost my friends, but my friends are not gone. My friends are still here in the Phantoms' Song. I can hear them, and I know that soon I will be with them. For now they have each other, and for now I have my family, and one day we will all be together.

For now, the gold eyed girl left a memory that will not be taken away.

But it is good, because it is my memory. It does not belong to her, and yet she created it.

Her music—if it does indeed belong to her—flows through my veins.

It will live in me.

It will die with me.

And it will be at rest along side me.


End file.
